Reenforced floor construction



Aug. 18, 1925.

REENFORCED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 20, 1923CHARLES J 1/1 0 05 Aug-.18,- 1925. l I 1,550,231

C. J. WOODS REENFORCED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 20, 1933 2Sheets-Shani: 2

CHARLES J wooas.

Patente'd Aug. 18, 1925.

UNETED CHARLES J. WOODS, 0'15 SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

REENFQRCED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed August 20, 1923.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CrIARLEs J. WOOD-s, a.citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Reenforced Floor Constructions, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to fire-proof floors, of the class in whichconcrete and tiles comprise the component parts, and has for its objectto reduce the normal weight of the Hat floor panels, without sacrificingany of their strength. A further object is to provide an exceptionallystrong floor structure of the class, in which is eliminated allunnecessary dead weight of the floor itself, whereby a greaterproportion of the strength of the slab, of a given thickness, may beutilized for sustaining the maximum loads the floor is intended tosupport.

A further object is to provide av floor const-ruction, wherein hollowtiles are disposed in rows in two directions, the said rows beingsuitably spaced, and the spaces between the tiles being filled withplastic or semi-plastic concrete, for forming lengthwise andcrosswise'ribs or beams, between which, and the ends and lateral sidesofthe tiles, there is effected a perfect bond, thereby producing acontinuous floor slab of minimum weight and maximum strength;Furthermore, the concrete ribs are directly reenforced by the usuallengthwise and crosswise iron or steel rods, the latter being embeddedin the concrete near the bottom plane of the floor andv withstanding theusual tension and shear stresses, while the tops of the tiles and ribs,due to the intimate bonding of the parts, effectually resist the bendingstresses when the floor is subjected to abnormal loads.

The prime object of the invention is to prevent any of the concretecomprising the ribs or beams from entering the open ends of the tiles.This object is accomplished in a simple manner, by the use of novel clo:sures or stoppers, which may be made out of relatively light gage sheetmetal or fibre; the stoppers preferably being flexible and capable ofbeing slightly arched or bent for facilitating their ready and quickapplication to the open ends of the cells; the said stoppers beingthereafter held in place by their own tension, and being so fashioned-Serial No. 658,394.

and disposed that the end-faces of the tiles are directly exposed to andbecome readily and intimately bonded with the series of concrete ribs,which close the interstices at the ends of the tiles.

Heretofore, it has been proposed, in the construction oftile-and-concrete floors of the class, to allow more or less of theplastic concrete comprising the intersecting ribs or beams to enter theopen ends, and to partially fill the cells of the tiles, thereby form-1ng substantially solid plugs, having for their object to prevent thecollapse of the ends of the tiles, when the floor slab is subjected tostresses due to the imposing thereon of abnormal loads. This practice,owing to the great number of the hollow tiles throughout a floor, andthe still greater number of the cells in which these concrete plugs areformed, has resulted in greatly increasing the normal dead weightor loadof the floor, without producing any very useful results. The concretecomprising the intersecting ribs, owing to its semi-plastic nature, andits entry being controlled by gravity, merely forms an angular plug,which only bonds at the sides and bottoms of the cells, and leaves thetops of the cells empty, and particularly the top walls of the tilesunsupported during t-he'bending and crushing stresses when thefloor-slab is in compression.

According to my invention, the intersecting concrete ribs extending inthe one direction, intimately and solidly bond with the plain sides ofthe tiles, so that the sides re quire no additional reenforcing in orderto withstand the compression stresses, for the reason that said stressesinvariably are exerted downwardly, instead of laterally. On the otherhand, by preventing the entrance of any of the concrete into the openends of the cells, through the employment of my novel stoppers, whichconform to and close the cell-openings, and by exposing the top, bottomand side end-faces of the clay tiles to the wet concrete that comprisesthe ribs that extend in the transverse direction, I am able to effectsuch an intimate and strong bonding of the ends of the tiles with thesaid ribs, as well as with the stoppers, as to obviate all danger of thecollapse of the ends of the tiles, whether the slab is in tension or incompression. My construction effects a saving of from fifteen to twentyper cent of dead ribs, is obviated, thereby further lessening the normaldead weightof the spans and correspondingly increasing their capacityfor sustaining the abnormal or live loads. The present constructionentirely eliminates the usual superposed sheet or layer of concrete,which has chiefly been employed for taking care of the compressionstresses of the floor, and in lieu thereof, it is proposed to increasethe thickness of the top walls of the tiles and cellulate the same, aswell as to increase the depth of the tiles and concrete ribs, therebyincreasing the resistance to the compression stresses without proper--tionately increasing the normal dead weight of the floor slabs.

l attain these objects by the means set forth in the detaileddescription which follows, and as illustrated by the acompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a. broken plan view of a floor panel,showing the twoway arrangement of the tiles, the concrete beams, andreenforcing rods, and the application of the stoppers to the open endsof the blocks. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, taken on line22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of one of the tiles, showingthe cells closed by plain stoppers disposed horizontally. Fig. el andFig. 5 are similar views, showing the stoppers disposed vertically. Fig.6 is a broken top plan view of the tile shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is anend View of a tile, showing stoppers having their ends slitted forproviding flexible lugs that alternately engage the inner and outersurfaces of the tile. Fig. 8 is a vertical section, taken on line 88 ofFig. 7. Fig. 9 is a View showing a one-part stopper for closing the fourcells of the tile. Fig. 10 is a vertical section, taken on line 1010 ofFig. 9. Fig. 11 is an end view of a tile having its top portionreenforced by a. thickened cellular wall, showing stoppers provided withretaining lugs that engage the small cells at the top, while their plainlower ends engage the larger cells at in Figs. 9 and 10. Fig. 1d is asimilar view of the stopper shown in Figs. 7 and 8, and Fig. 15 is aview showing the slitted stopper applied like the plain stop were.

In the drawings, the floor panel or slab (Fig. 1), consists oflengthwise and crosswise concrete ribs or beams 2 2; filling blocks 33,and metal reenforcing rods l4, the said ribs and blocks being arrangedfiat and of uniform thickness throughout.

The blocks 33 are preferably the ordinary cellular baked clay tiles incommon use, and having four or more cells 3, which extend unobstructedthroughout the length of the tiles, the said cells: being formed byvertical and horizontal interior walls 8"3 At the start of the floorconstruction, a temporary cent-rin or platform (not shown) is erectedupon which the tiles are placed in spaced relation in two directions.Before, or at the time the tiles are placed in position, the open endsarepref-erablyclosed by closures or stoppers 5 and 5, which preferablyconsist of flexible sheets of metal of suitable The stoppers 5, forexample, disposed horizontally, and are preferably slightly longer thanthe distance between the remote inner sides 3 of the tiles, so as toallow the strips of metal to be slightly bent or arched, in order thattheir ends may enter the cells and frictionally engage the innersurfaces of the side walls 3, while the medial portions of the stoppersextend across and bear against the interior walls 8", as best seen inFigs. 1, 2, 3 and 6. When the stoppers are thus applied to the cells,they are held rigidly in place by their own tension. After the tileshave been properly positioned, as described, concrete in plastic orsemiplastic state is poured into the interstices between the rows, forforming the ribs 2-2, the concrete usually being tamped so as tocompactly fill the spaces. The concrete makes direct contact with theouter surface of the plain sides 3 as well as with the end-faces of thetiles, and effects a perfect bonding with the tiles. It will beunderstood, that in applying the closures 5, the top, sides middle andbottom end-faces of the tiles are preferably exposed to the. concrete,so that there is substantially a uniform bonding effected throughout thebreadth and depth of the tiles. When the stoppers 5 are employed, thelatter substantially cover the vertical walls 3 and while there is nodirect bonding of the said walls with the concrete, the nature of thestoppers is such that the concrete readily adheres to and bonds with therelatively broad surface of the stoppers, thereby effecting a strongerunion than if the medial bonding occurred only at the walls 3 Thepresence of the stoppers, which substantially cover the whole end areasof the tiles (see Fig. 3)., results in the formation of a broad and deepconcrete abutment, which is intimately united to the tiles and stoppersthroughout said area, and the metal of the stoppers being of such naturethat it will not fracture when the panel is subjected to compressionstresses, and the ends of the stoppers being interlocked with theopposite side walls 3, as well as with the horizontal walls 3 of thetiles, the joints between the ends of the tiles and the concrete ribspossess practically the same strength and resistance as any other partof the panel. The closures (5) effectually prevent any of the concretefrom entering the cells 'of the tiles, and therefore greatly reduce thedead weight of the floor slab, without sacrificing any of itscompressioirresi sting strength, since there is a perfect bondthroughout the whole end area of the tiles, as described, and the metalclosures being entered into the open ends of the cells, as shown inFigs. 1 and 6, serve to support the horizontal walls of the tiles, inthe direction in which the metal has greatest resistance when the panelis in compression.

The reenforcing rods 4-4" are prferably disposed near the bottom planeof the panel, andtake care of the tension and shearing stresses, in theusual manner.

The tiles 8 see Figs. 1, 2 and 4c) are fitted with plain closures 5,which are disposed vertically and perform substantially the samefunctions as the stoppers 5, exceptthat the closures 5 when sprung intoplace tend to exert their tension vertically, thereby directlysupporting the top walls 5 of the tiles, instead of the lateral walls 3By this slightly modified arrangement of the closures, there is a directbonding between the concrete 2 and the end-faces of the top, bottom,side and inner vertical walls 3*,

' while there is no direct bonding with the inner wall 3. The closure 5being slightly curved vertically, effects a corresponding molding of theconcrete, which tends to increase the interlocking of the ribs 2 withthe ends of the tiles for resisting the compression stresses.

The closures or stoppers may be made in many shapes and dimensions, tosuit the different styles and sizes of tiles, and yet performsubstantially the same functions, as, for example, as shown in Figs. 7and 8, wherein stoppers 5 are disposed vertically the same as stoppers5, but the opposite ends of the stoppers 5 are slitted, for providingflexible lugs ES -5, which alternately engage the inner and outer facesof the top and bottom walls ti -3. The lugs 5 are preferably slightlylonger than the. lugs 5, so that they may slightly overlap the endfacesof the top and bottom walls, as shown, and still leave the greaterportion of said ends exposed to the concrete 2, for efiecting theintimate bonding that is desirable. This offsetting of the lugs of thestoppers 5, provides a plurality of shallow indentations, or recesses,as at w in Figs. 7 and 8 adjacent the walls 3f"8 into which the concrete2 enters and thereby effects a positive mechanical interlocking of theconcrete with the tiles, while at the same time, the stoppers 5 preventthe concrete from entering the cells, and unnecessarily increasing thenormal weight of the slab. After the stoppers are applied as hereinshown and described, the ends of the tiles appear slightly conveXed, andwhen the concrete is poured into the spaces between the tiles, thelatter become interlocked in a manner to further strengthen the bond orunion of the tiles and concrete ribs.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is shown another form of stopper, a relatively largemetal plate, comprising similar body portions 5 which are normallyspaced the breadth of the vertical walls 8* by integral spacers 5 Eachof the body portions 5 may be cut away cen; trally, as at 5 for exposingportions of the horizontal walls 3, which may bond directly with theconcrete. 2. y 7

Figs. 11 and 12 show a tile 6, having four relatively large cells 6,which are formed by vertical and horizontal walls (l -6", and whereinthe top wall 6 is thickened and formed with a number of relatively smallcells 6 for stiffening the said wall. This form of tile may be employedwhen extra heavy loads are to be carried by the floor slab, in lieu ofthe usual superposed sheet or layer of concrete, heretofore employed fortaking the compression stresses. When the tiles 6 form the. fillerblocks of the slab, the stoppers, as 5 are preferably formed with aplurality of spaced flexible lugs 5 which are bent and sprung into thecells 6 while the plain bottom ends of the stoppers are bent and sprunginto the bottom cells, the same as stoppers 55 In Fig. 15 is shown theadaptation of the slitted stoppers 5 to an ordinary tile, the same asstoppers 5. From the foregoing it will be understood that although Ihave shown several differently constructed stoppers, they all servesubstantially the same function, and are practically interchangeablewhen applied to tiles of the same style or make.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a floor slab,a. hollow, open-ended tile, and flexible sheet metal stoppers forclosing the open ends of the tile for preventing the concrete fromentering the same, the ends: of said stoppersbeing flexed inwardly andinserted in the said open ends and being held in place by the tension ofthe metal.

2. The combination with a tile having a plurality of cells extendingtherethrough, and being separated by an interior wall, a stopper forpreventing concrete and other matter from entering the cells, saidstopper comprising a flexible sheet adapted to span the openings, theends of the stopper adapted to be flexed and inserted in the remoteportions oi the openings, the medial portions of the stoppers beingsprung over the end face or" the interior wall and said stopper adaptedto be held from displacement during handling of the tile by the tensionof said sheet.

8. A floor slab includingav hollow openended tile, a flexible sheetmetal stopper disposed across the ends of the tileand closing theopenings in said end, said stoppers being longer than the span of thealining openings, the ends of said stoppers adapted to be bent forinsertion in said openings, and being held against the remote innerwalls of the tile by the tension of the metal, and the medial portionsof said stoppers convexing outwardly beyond the body lines of the tile.

L. A floor slab including a hollow tile divided by intervening interiorwalls into cells extending lengthwise and providing correspondingopenings at the opposite ends of the tile, and flexible stoppers forclosing the open ends adapted to be bent and spring into said openings,the said stoppers being of greater length than the span of the adjacentalining openings and the medial portions of the stoppers abutting andbeing supported by said intervening interior walls and projecting intothe spaces between the ends. of adjacent tiles.

5. A closure for the open end of a floor tile, comprising a flexiblesheet adapted to be sprung into the tile open end by the outward flexingof the medial portion of said sheet, the inwardly directed marginalportion of the sheet being slit to form independent lugs.

6. A hollow, open-ended floor tile having an outwardly convex closurefor its open end. sprung into said open end by the outward flexing ofthe medial portion of said closure.

7. A hollow, open-ended floor tile having an outwardly convex closurefor its open end supported medially by the tile with its end portionssprung inwardly into engagement with the opposing inner walls of saidtile.

8. A hollow, open-ended floor tile having an outwardly convex closurefor its open end sprung into said open end by the outward flexing of themedial portion of said closure, the marginal portion of the lattercarrying independent, flexible lugs.

9. An open-ended tile having a sheet-like closure sprung into the tileopen end, the marginal portion of the closure having independent,flexible lugs spaced to fit between partitions and walls of the tile.

In testimony whereoi I ailix my signature.

CHARLES J. lVOODS.

